When we first started the Hemmings Blog some five years ago, we initially meant it as a sort of behind-the-scenes deal, showing what it takes to publish four magazines every month from the backwoods lovely and scenic Green Mountains of Vermont, along with all the projects and trouble we editors get in on a regular basis. For better or worse, it hasn’t quite turned out like that, TA’s Ferrari photo shoot post from last week notwithstanding.

Now, we’re not going to switch gears on you and turn the blog into something else. Instead, we’re going to open up today’s Open Diff blog post to your questions about life behind the scenes at Hemmings Motor News. Ever had a question about the process of putting a magazine together? Confused about how to sign up for the Hemmings Digital or the Hemmings Daily newsletter? Wanna know who on staff has a Dinosaur Neil action figure in their cubicle? (Answer: Not me.) Ask away.

Or, alternately, if you don’t want to see how hot dogs are made, feel free to use this space to discuss anything related to collector cars, to leave general feedback or to suggest ways we can spiff up the place.

While we’re doing some housekeeping, I want to take this opportunity to remind everybody about our rules for commenting: No spam, no commercial posts, no personal attacks, no politics/religion, and keep it civil. Ninety-nine percent of the people commenting here are good eggs, and we do enjoy hearing from you in the comments, but we will step in and delete comments if necessary to maintain an environment conducive to on-topic discussion.

17 Responses to “Open Diff: Your questions answered”

Since I’ve been a long time fan of this site, it goes without saying that I’ve been happy with the status quo. Especially so in that the site has become even more active and lively recently.
Your efforts are appreciated, Dan.

The two Hemmings magazines that I buy and read religiously are Classic Car and Sports & Exotic Car. And the question I’ve always had is: why do they hit the newsstands so far apart? Why don’t the issues arrive at least within days of each other, instead of two weeks apart? Is it because you guys have your production calendar staggered to more or less “spread the load” and not have to face key production point all at once?

That’s it exactly. Just about every week here at the office we’re on to the next deadline because all of the magazines share the same art/design/layout staff and some of the same editorial staff. Spreading the load is the only way to keep everybody sane here!

I really like the blog the way it is. A couple of others I follow recently “improved” their format, and now they are much less appealing. Less is often more.

What I’d like to see is:
- In the Hemmings office, who owns what cars? I see occasional references to rides owned, but it would be fun to see snapshot of the total motor pool. Include the winter beaters – why not?

If you subscribe to Hemmings Sports and Exotic Car, we have a monthly tally of the (HSX-related) cars that staffers own. I’ll try to get the rest of the staffers to post pictures of their cars and beaters. I’ll warn you, though: The beaters aren’t pretty.

I also like the staff’s project cars – like the HMX and Mr. Lentinello’s LTD wagon.

I would like to know how to get the newsletters. Also, some of the posted articles cut short and state “you must be a subscriber to read this article”. I am a subscriber to HCC magazine – does that count? If not, I understand.

As for the articles cut short, we call that our subscriber wall. It’s meant to encourage people to take out a subscription to our magazines to get the latest issues online as well as in print. The wall comes down after a few months, but if you are already a subscriber, you can link your online account to your subscriber account to see those latest articles. Best way to link your account is to call our customer service desk at 800-CAR-HERE (800-227-4373).

I think the comments you get from a very diverse group of readers is great. Like the ones from Brazil about the fellow who owned the Tucker, and the fellow today who talks about designing the Lincoln. A lot of people with significant car knowledge are reading this and filling in some details we would not otherwise know.

I agree. While I pay attention to the traditional website statistics (visitors, visits, pageviews, etc.) to see what works here on the blog and what doesn’t, sometimes the more important metric is the number of comments on a blog post. If I write something and nobody among our excellent army of commenters leaves some feedback on it, then I know not to waste my time with that sort of post in the future. Alternatively, if a post receives a flood of comments, then I’ll direct my efforts toward more posts like it.

You guys improve my life! Sports and Exotic Cars is my favorite magazine, and I read the blog every day!

This summer, for the second year, we’re including a Cruise-In on our vacation trip. My immodest question: may I ride passenger in the Hemmings Speedster when you pull it out? I must have taken 50 pictures of that sweet project at the Cruise-In last year. We’ll be there July 21! What time should I be there?

On the subject of the “Cugnot Fardier” reproduction at the museum in Florida. Is it possible to get a DVD or DVD’s of that vehicle, on display, and puffing around the streets of Paris? Seems a shame that someone has everything on tape about it sewn up tight. It was on the news, in public view, so it should be available for public viewing.